Consultation Travel for A Multidisciplinary Pilot Study of Alpine Cairns, Southeast Alaska

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

This is a small EAGER project to explore alpine cairn structures that exist in Southeast Alaska and which have been described in the historic record as early as the Russian contact period. Because of the focus on coastal migration theories of early peopling of North American and the development of social complexity among the coastal tribes, no previous research has been done to understand the construction or prehistoric context of these cairn structures that are quite numerous in the region. This project would support the research team to do preliminary testing of an alpine cairn and will allow PIs to travel to consult and coordinate their research with the tribal communities of Sitka and Angoon on whose traditional territories the project would take place.